{"id":49497,"date":"2025-09-18T10:40:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stptrans.com\/lego-nain-legendaarinen-leluvalmistaja-selatti-globaalin-menestyksen-haasteet-90-vuotisen-historiansa-aikana\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:40:07","slug":"lego-nain-legendaarinen-leluvalmistaja-selatti-globaalin-menestyksen-haasteet-90-vuotisen-historiansa-aikana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stptrans.com\/fi\/lego-nain-legendaarinen-leluvalmistaja-selatti-globaalin-menestyksen-haasteet-90-vuotisen-historiansa-aikana\/","title":{"rendered":"LEGO: N\u00e4in legendaarinen leluvalmistaja sel\u00e4tti globaalin menestyksen haasteet 90-vuotisen historiansa aikana"},"content":{"rendered":"
Over the course of <\/span>nearly a<\/span> century of expansion and development<\/span> all <\/span>around <\/span>the world<\/span>, children<\/span> and adults alike<\/span> have come to know and love the process of creating new worlds and structures with <\/span>LEGO<\/span> bricks<\/span>. Whether <\/span>you <\/span>spent time intricately building some of the more<\/span> famous sets, like<\/span> Hogwarts <\/span>C<\/span>astle <\/span>or <\/span>the <\/span>Star Wars <\/span>Millenium Falcon, or <\/span>you<\/span> just had <\/span>normal <\/span>LEGO<\/span> b<\/span>ric<\/span>ks<\/span> and\u00a0let<\/span> your imagination <\/span>take over<\/span>, <\/span>you <\/span>probably have<\/span> some <\/span>childhood <\/span>m<\/span>emor<\/span>ies<\/span> associated with the brand<\/span>.<\/span> So <\/span>how<\/span> did a small carpentry business <\/span>from <\/span>the tiny town of Billund, Denmark<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> grow into the world\u2019s biggest toy company? Read on to learn how<\/span> the<\/span> LEGO<\/span> Group <\/span>found globalisation success<\/span> despite several <\/span>episodes <\/span>of financial struggles and expansion <\/span>errors<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The LEGO Group was <\/span>founded by Ole Kirk Kristiansen<\/span><\/a> in Billund, Denmark in 1932. At the time, Billund was a small, humble town with fewer than 300 residents. However, after the LEGO factory was established in the 1930s and as a result of the continued growth that followed, the town\u2019s <\/span>economic status rapidly developed<\/span><\/a>. Billund, now with just over 7,000 residents, is home to Denmark\u2019s second-largest airport and has transformed into a hub for tourists who want to learn about the LEGO company\u2019s history and visit the original LEGOLAND amusement park.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the brand was officially created in 1932 and named LEGO in 1934, its story started some years earlier. Ole Kirk Kristiansen <\/span>bought a carpentry business in Billund in 1916<\/span><\/a>, planning to build houses in the summer and sell furniture in the winter. He did this successfully for a few years, despite an accidental fire in 1924 that burned down his workshop and family home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After rebuilding both structures, Kristiansen hoped for more profits from his business. However, by the early 1930s, the global economic crisis had reached the Danish farmers, who could no longer afford to pay for Kristiansen\u2019s services. As a result, he turned to producing goods that were cheaper to manufacture \u2013 <\/span>in this case<\/span>,<\/span> children\u2019s toys made of wood.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although this was not a particularly profitable venture while Billund was in the throes of the 1930s Great Depression and the Nazi occupation of the 1940s, Kristiansen had found a passion for building toys. He liked encouraging children\u2019s early development by producing toys like trucks and pull-along animals that promoted thought and creativity. This inspired him to <\/span>come up with the name \u201cLEGO\u201d<\/span><\/a> in 1934, which is a portmanteau of the Danish words \u201c<\/span>leg <\/span><\/i>godt<\/span><\/i>\u201d or \u201cplay well.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now, over 90 years later, the LEGO Group has more than <\/span>900 retail locations<\/span><\/a> worldwide, including stores and franchises, as well as <\/span>11 LEGOLAND theme parks<\/span><\/a>. How did the business achieve such significant growth after a difficult start?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Several factors played a key role, including Kristiansen\u2019s focus on producing only the highest quality toys possible, the transition to using plastic instead of wood and the creation of a clear company vision and purpose.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>LEGO Group\u2019s motto<\/span><\/a> is \u201c<\/span>det bedste er ikke for godt<\/span><\/i>,\u201d literally meaning \u201cthe best is not too good,\u201d but officially translated into English as \u201conly the best is good enough.\u201d This set a very high standard for quality, and it all started with Ole Kristiansen. <\/span>According to the LEGO company website<\/span><\/a>, Kristiansen used beechwood that had been air-dried for two years and kiln-dried for three weeks. Then, it was cut, sanded, polished and painted with three coats of varnish or paint.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The story goes<\/span><\/a> that his son, Godtfred, once tried to cut corners in the production process by only giving the company\u2019s wooden ducks two coats of varnish instead of three. Upon learning this, his father chastised him, telling him to give them the last coat immediately and teaching him a lesson about the importance of quality. The elder Kristiansen proceeded to carve out wooden signs of the company motto and hang them around the factory so that employees would never be tempted to compromise on the quality of LEGO toys.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This was evidently a lesson learned for Godtfred, as when <\/span>he eventually took charge of the LEGO Group in the 1950s<\/span><\/a>, he always ensured that every single brick was built to the proper specifications \u2013 so much so that any of the bricks created back then should still fit together with today\u2019s LEGO bricks. When new automation and machinery started to increase the efficiency of production, Godtfred <\/span>created a quality control department<\/span><\/a> to ensure that the company would continue to live up to its own motto.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The LEGO company began working with plastics in the late 1940s when Kristiansen purchased an injection moulding machine <\/span>after seeing one demonstrated in Copenhagen<\/span><\/a>. This coincided with supply issues that the company was facing, as high-quality beechwood was becoming harder to find.<\/span><\/p>\n Around the same time, Kristiansen and his son, Godtfred, were sent plastic blocks from a British company. They redesigned them, developing what would eventually become LEGO self-locking bricks. They called these <\/span>Automatic Binding Bricks<\/span><\/a>, giving them an English name as an homage to the Allied forces who had liberated Europe in 1945. They would be renamed <\/span>\u201cLEGO Mursten\u201d<\/span><\/a> (LEGO bricks) a few years later to more resolutely establish the brand.<\/span><\/p>\n But not everyone was immediately convinced by the idea of transitioning from tried-and-true beechwood to plastic. Godtfred believed that wood was a stronger material and that plastic would not be able to replace it. However, because of Kristiansen\u2019s belief in the potential of these new plastic bricks, they continued developing and selling these over the following decades.<\/span><\/p>\n Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the popularity of LEGO plastic bricks grew across Western Europe. Meanwhile, the company\u2019s wooden toys were never sold outside of Denmark. Eventually, after a third major fire (the first having occurred in 1924 and the second in the early 1940s) in <\/span>the wood warehouse in 1960<\/span><\/a>, Godtfred accepted that the company\u2019s future would need to rely entirely on plastic and that they could not return to producing wooden toys.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once Godtfred had decided that all efforts would be put towards producing plastic LEGO bricks, he focused his full attention on developing a clear goal and vision for the company. Despite Godtfred agreeing with his father that plastic was the right choice, his brothers, who were also working in key positions within the company, disagreed so strongly with his decision that they left the company entirely. As a result, in 1960, Godtfred became the sole owner.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As part of his plan for the company\u2019s future, he developed <\/span>the following 10 characteristics<\/span><\/a> in 1963, which highlighted the goals of the brand moving forward:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The next few decades of expansion that followed the 1960s came with plenty of struggles for the LEGO company. It was ultimately its adherence and return to these principles that helped the company to adjust, adapt and overcome the challenges it faced.<\/span> These characteristics are still very much relevant today and have become a core part of the LEGO company\u2019s production strategy and vision.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a Danish company, the LEGO Group followed the same path as many other companies from the Nordic region and <\/span>initially expanded into neighbouring Scandinavian and Nordic countries<\/span><\/a>. Sales began in Norway in 1953 and Sweden and Iceland followed in 1955.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The elder Kristiansen viewed Germany as the gateway to the rest of Europe, as it was the global centre of toy production. As a result, this was the natural next step for the company. Although there was initial pushback from the purchasing managers at German department stores, Kristiansen managed to convince the toyshops closest to Denmark, in northern Germany, to sell LEGO products. The LEGO Group\u2019s first foreign sales office was set up in Germany in 1956.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kristiansen was right about Germany: the LEGO company saw rapid expansion across the rest of Europe, opening sales offices in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Portugal from 1956 to 1958. What\u2019s more, the first LEGOLAND, an amusement park dedicated to LEGO products, opened in Billund in 1968.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1961, the LEGO Group licensed the American luggage company Shwayder (later Samsonite) to sell LEGO products in the USA. This helped the company get its foot in the door, and by 1973, it was able to buy back the rights to sell LEGO products from Samsonite, <\/span>set up LEGO USA<\/span><\/a> and build a factory in Enfield, Connecticut.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The 1970s and 80s were a time of rapid expansion. The toy industry saw <\/span>changes in production<\/span><\/a> brought on by automation and the modernisation of machinery. This made the manufacturing process more efficient than ever. The 1970s also saw more discussion about product safety, including the impact of toy materials on the environment, and the LEGO Group joined various organisations working towards a European standard for toy safety.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOrigins and history<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Building initial success<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
The transition to plastic bricks<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
The 10 characteristics of the LEGO brand<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Early expansion in the Nordic region, Western Europe and the USA<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n